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Twitch enforces US 'adult only' ban worldwide

Game streaming service Twitch has announced it will ban broadcasts of adult-rated games. That's "Adult Only" as defined by the American ratings body ESRB though, and the decision is already causing confusion and anger given the platform is viewed globally.

Originally, in a post on its official blog, Twitch stated its intent was to create "a safe, welcoming, inclusive community platform where everyone can feel comfortable and have fun". As a result, AO-rated games would now be summarily banned from being streamed on the service. Although not outright stated, it's thought the ban has come into effect to pre-empt the release of Hatred, an isometric shooter where players kill everything that moves.

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Previously, the suitability of games was decided on a case-by-case basis but this has been deemed "unsustainable and unclear, generating only further confusion among Twitch broadcasters". Large parts of the Twitch community have reacted unfavourably to the change, with cries of censorship in the comments to the blog post, and the response amongst YouTube users is not kind.

Compounding the problem is the fact that age ratings differ by territory, and Twitch's decree enforces the more stringent, arguably puritanical (most of the 26 AO-rated games are listed because of sex) content decisions made in America on a global scale. Attempting to address the confusion, the initial blog post was updated to explain that "games rated 18+ by other rating systems are fine to stream, so long as they are not rated AO by the ESRB, and they don’t violate the standard language of our Rules of Conduct and ToS."

However, software versions can also affect age rating. Adventure game Fahrenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in the US) was originally rated AO for its sex scenes and use of drugs and alcohol. The original PS2 and PC release in 2005 was edited in the US to receive a lower "M" rating, for ages 17+, but released uncut elsewhere. The remastered edition from January this year was based on the uncensored version, but only received an M this time.

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Twitch's further clarification efforts added that "ESRB rated Mature versions of Adults Only titles are permitted for streaming, such as Mature versions of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy". Despite this, the new rules technically mean streaming that ten-year old unedited European copy of Fahrenheit is banned, but the same game from January this year -- with the same level of nudity but with better textures and higher resolution -- isn't.

The full, updated Rules of Conduct go a little further than just the games though, with some guidelines for the players themselves. Along with appropriate warnings that language featuring racism, sexism, homophobia or other hate speech will make you "disappear from Twitch", is a reminder that you really should wear some clothes while broadcasting your gaming session, and not to engage in "self destructive behaviour" on-stream.

How Twitch responds to the player base over the long term -- backtracking once Hatred's self-made scandal dies down, perhaps? -- will be interesting to see, especially as the internet community tends to instinctively bristle at any form of content moderation.